Ca. 800 AD.A bronze marriage ring comprising of a band with ribbed shoulders and a hexagonal-shaped bezel with a depiction of a bride and groom. Marriage, in both legal and social senses, underwent considerable development throughout the course of Byzantine history. Perhaps the greatest impetus for change compared to earlier Roman marriage was the progressive migration of marriage law from civil to church courts and the eventual requirement that the Church conduct marriage services. The family, especially the aristocratic family also underwent changes. There were some continuities as well, of course. The basic family unit, consisting not only of parents and their immediate children, but also grandchildren, uncles, and aunts, as well as family relationships established by a whole series of religious acts - adoption, god-parentship, suntechnia (co-god-parentship), and adelphopoiia, (literally brother making.) Such alliances were planned with care, intending to strengthen the position and material well-being of a family. Size: D: 17.35mm / US: 7 / UK: O; 12gProvenance: Private London collector, acquired on the Austrian Art market; formerly in an old USA collection, formed since the 1970s.